American Music

Midterm Assignment

For your midterm, each of you will write an introduction for the set that you are assigned (see
below). Imagine that what you’re writing is what you would say if you were to introduce these pieces
on a concert to a group of people that probably know nothing about the music. Keep your remarks
to about two minutes, which is about one page, double spaced. Here are some things you will want
to mention:

 The context in which the pieces were written or published
 A little information about the composer, if applicable
 Something informative about the music itself

There’s no need to do extra research for this assignment beyond what we’ve discussed about these
pieces in class. However, if you would like to check some facts, I recommend using Oxford Music
Online, which is an authoritative database that contains several outstanding resources, including
Grove Music Online and The Grove Dictionary of American Music. You can access the resource from the
Gumberg Library databases page, found here.

Colin Bakum Psalm 1 from The Book of Psalms Englished Both in Prose and Metre
William Billings, “Chester”

Rachel D’Abruzzo Sacred Harp: “Amazing Grace” and “I’m Going Home”

Jeffrey Fabis Stephen Foster: “Jeannie with the light brown hair” and “Ah, May
the Red Rose Live Alway”

Mario Galati George F. Root: “The Battle Cry of Freedom” and “Just Before the
Battle, Mother”